Lance Hastings with the California Manufacturers & Technology Association speaks at the "Valley Made" summit Thursday. Photo by Gabriel Dillard

About 800 people were in attendance for the 8th annual “Valley Made” Manufacturing Summit held at the Fresno Convention Center Exhibit Hall Thursday.

Organized by the San Joaquin Valley Manufacturing Alliance (SJVMA) and the Fresno Business Council, the summit serves as a workshop and resource expo that highlights the Valley’s innovation and provides resource and networking opportunities to bolster the local workforce.

This year’s keynote speaker was Kevin Goering, a partner with McKinsey & Co., a global management consulting firm headquartered in New York.

Goering reports to McKinsey’s San Francisco office, but he’s a Fresno native who still lives and works in town. He is a former University of San Diego associate professor and U.S. Navy submarine officer.

In his keynote speech, Goering praised the strong community of manufacturers and shared a vision for Industry 4.0 — the next phase in the digitization of the manufacturing sector driven by the rise of data and connectivity, analytics, human-machine interaction and improvements in robotics.

Lance Hastings, president and CEO of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, remarked before Goering’s talk that SJVMA is the strongest regional manufacturing group in all of California.

“The Central Valley will continue to be the beacon for manufacturing in this state’s future for many years to come,” he said.

The event include breakout sessions